00:00:11 Anne
This episode of The Omni Talk Retail Fast Five is brought to you by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group. The A&M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities towards their maximum potential. CRG brings the experience, tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption and Miracle, the catalyst of Commerce. Over 450 retailers are opening new revenue streams with marketplaces, dropship and retail media and succeeding. With Miracle, you can unlock more products, more partners and more profits without the heavy lifting. What’s holding you back? Visit Miracle.com to learn more. That’s Mirakl.com and Core. Your stores are full of data, but are your teams acting on it? Corso turns retail data into personalised daily to DOS that drive sales, reduce waste and improve execution. No fluff, just action.
Help your managers focus on what matters most. Visit corso.com to see Intelligent management in Motion and Infios. At Infios, they unite warehousing, transportation and order management into a seamless, adaptable network. Infios helps you stay ahead from promise to delivery and every step in between. To learn more, visit infios.com and finally, Ocampo Capital. Ocampo Capital is a venture capital firm founded by retail executives with the aim of helping early stage consumer businesses succeed through investment and operational support. Learn more@ocampo capital.com hello, you are listening to Omnitalks Retail Fast 5 ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and currently the only retail podcast ranked in the top 100 of all business podcasts on Apple Podcasts. The Retail Fast five is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly, a little happier each week too. And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts you can find from the Omnitalk Retail Podcast Network alongside our Retail Daily Minute, which brings you a curated selection of the most important retail headlines every morning and our Retail Technology Spotlight series which goes deep each week on the latest retail technology trends. It’s December 3, 2025. I’m one of your hosts, Anne Mezzenga.
00:02:32 Chris
And I’m one of your other hosts, Chris Walton.
00:02:34 Anne
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing. Chris, before we get into the headlines, we were both planning last week to be out in stores for Black Friday. I have to know, what was your trip like, and what were one. What were some of the most memorable things that you saw during your shopping trip?
00:02:55 Chris
Oh, wow. Yeah, I mean, I. I went. Yeah, I went out to Southdale, the first indoor mall in the history of America, right down from our house. Went out there, checked it out, checked the new luxury wing. That was kind of cool to see. They’ve done a nice job there. The things that stood out to me and was. I was actually shocked at how much traffic there was. I mean, I think I’ve hit Southdale pretty regularly over the past few years, and it felt like it was busier than I remember it. And the. The store that stood out to me was actually Sephora. Sephora was just banging like, the. There were, like, lines throughout the store. Like, you could barely move in there. So kudos to them. I hope that was reminiscent of what their store experience looked like throughout the country on Black Friday. But from the. The sample size of 1, it was a pretty. Pretty telling experience for me. How about you? What’d you notice?
00:03:41 Anne
I was shocked at the Gap. I posted a video on LinkedIn. I have never seen a line that long ever in my life. I mean, it wrapped around the whole store and. And it was, I mean, easily the most traffic I’ve seen. And I was particularly interested, based on our conversation last week and after hearing Ella’s remarks, too, about, like, I think I’m. And she was sending us pictures throughout the week. And, like, I’ve found a Gap thing. Here’s like, I. I think everybody who I’ve talked to since that podcast was like, yeah, we. We’re going back to Gap. And it certainly was apparent on Black Friday. I don’t know if the deals were just too good to pass up or what, but. But that place was insane. I could not believe it.
00:04:28 Chris
Yeah, I did stop through Banana, and Banana did not entice me, so. But I did love seeing producer Ella’s pictures of all her friends wearing Gap stuff and the Gap bag she had and all that. It was great. It was really funny. But, yeah, Banana didn’t entice me at all. I didn’t hit Old Navy. Do you hit Old Navy at all?
00:04:43 Anne
No, I didn’t. I was at the outlets primarily, so there was a line, you know, in Old Navy as well. Lots of traffic. But actually, I was surprised. It. I talked to some of the. The people working at the retailers, and a lot of them said, like, this is just typical Saturday traffic for us. Like, they didn’t feel like there were, you know, like, at the regular malls, they were like it wasn’t as crazy. And I don’t know if that was because deals have been so stretched out this year. Like you know, the Black Friday deals in store on Black Friday went through Monday in most cases. So I think from, from just the anecdotal responses that I got from some of the people working in the stores, they were like it, it was not as crazy as we thought it was going to be. So we’ll just have to keep watching the patterns I guess and see I’m curious to compare this year to next year too and see.
00:05:34 Chris
Yeah.
00:05:35 Anne
See what happens.
00:05:36 Chris
But yeah, a lot of Black Friday and Cyber Day extensions too I’m seeing in my as well. So you never know. And the outlet malls are always a different beast too. They’re always a hard, hard comp too as well. So. All right Ed. Well you know this is the first podcast of the month so we have to hand out our Omnistar award. And so for those new to the podcast, our Omni Star award is the award we give out each month in partnership with Corso to recognise the top omnichannel operators out there. Not the pundits, not the so called experts, but the real life retail operators making a difference in their retail organisations. Corso’s AI copilot coaches retail leaders to optimise store performance at every level, transform retail operations from data overload into data powered. And this month’s award, and I think, I think you should do the honours on this one and I think this one is, is, is in your wheelhouse so why don’t you take it away.
00:06:25 Anne
Yeah, I’m really excited that we get to award Emily Arusha Hillock. You. Emily is the SVP of private brand innovation at Macy’s and she’s winning this month’s award for the bold work that she has been doing especially over the course of the last few months. From the Christian Siriano Inc. Partnership for New York Fashion Week to her continued work with her team on really developing Macy’s on 34th brand. Emily and her team are making the right strategic moves to source and design high quality, high fashion products for all of us, the masses, those who are still looking for good quality, good design in a product but don’t want to spend a fortune. Emily and her team, they’re working so closely with the rest of the operating team at Macy’s to make sure that they can give us something to go to Macy’s for. And Emily and team deserve all the kudos for this one. So congratulations Emily. We’re Proud of you.
00:07:25 Chris
Yeah, Emily and I actually, believe it or not, Emily and I used to be senior buyers together. Back in our baby days at Target. She was buying baby kids clothes and I was buying the baby gear and all that stuff too. So it’s good to see her get this recognition. Congrats, Emily. All right, and in this week’s Fast Five, we’ve got news on chat GPT introducing shopping research. Walmart exploring bringing ads to its on site sparky AI shopping engine. New claims that smart glasses are set for a banner year in 2026. And Amazon testing Amazon now a new 30 minute delivery service in Seattle and Philadelphia. But we begin today with more thoughts and news on Black Friday overall and.
00:08:04 Anne
All right, headline number one, Black Friday saw a record $11.8 billion in online sales. According to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday online sales hit $11.8 billion, up 9.1% from last year, with mobile accounting for 55% of purchases and buy now, pay later accounting for almost $800 million of the online spend. Other reporting services like MasterCard Spending Pulse corroborated these figures, noting a 10.4% growth in E commerce sales on Black Friday. And finally, also According to Adobe, AI driven, traffic to US retail sites soared 805% compared to last year. Chris, what are your big takeaways From Black Friday 2025 and what we just noted in these stats?
00:08:52 Chris
Oh man. God, where to start? You know, I’ve got a, I think a number of things stand out as I look at the statistics you just read as well as other research I did, you know, to prepare for today’s show. I think first of all, I’m not, I’m not surprised at all by the digital numbers. I mean, I can remember back when I was running E commerce for home furnishings back in 2013 and between 2013 and 2016, I used to say to my team all the time, expect a 10 bump. Like you could take it to the bank. It’s going to happen. And I feel like I’ve said this on past shows when we’ve been talking about Black Friday as well. I think I’ve said it probably multiple times. So the 10 bump’s not surprising.
But it is surprising to see that that trajectory still is consistently happening year over year. So that’s number one. Number two, the clubs, man. I don’t know if you saw the data from Placer AI yesterday, but the clubs just crushed it. The, the traffic numbers for Sam’s Club up 9.7%. BJ is up 8.2%. Costco, 7.7%. So people are finding value in the clubs. Like, who would have ever thought clubs on Black Friday, like, that’s kind of the last place I would want to be, you know, given, like, I don’t even want to be there on a Saturday or Sunday. You put that right. Black Friday traffic hell into it. No way. No thank you. But hey, I guess when you got to get those deals then. Third, I still can’t believe that mobile is only 50% of purchases. I mean that still tells me that there’s a tonne of room to go on our mobile devices here over the next few years. Like 55, 45% still happening away from a mobile device.
I mean it’s just like, wow, okay. And then last but not least, and I think I might surprise people here and I think I might even surprise you a little bit. I thought the growth in AI influenced shopping would be higher, 800% in basically what is year two to me seems really low. And to prove that out, I looked at some comparables and I thought this was interesting. So you mentioned BNPL in your opening. So I look back at this, I look back at a CFBP report, PB report, CFPB report, I should say. And they looked at the amount of loans that originated via BNPL from 2019 to 2021 and they saw a 970% increase over those three, over those years. So like, I just feel like, I feel like based on where agentic AI is, an AI is in general and where it should be going, it feels like it should be moving faster. Like, it just feels like it should be moving faster to me. So makes me wonder if we need to start slowing our role on shopping these platforms. And as I said last week as well, like maybe we need to be a little more thoughtful and pragmatic and view these kind of engines as search amplifiers first and foremost versus like connecting our business and all our apps to them. As we discussed last week. That’s kind of my, that’s kind of my takeaway here from Black Friday.
00:11:37 Anne
I think it makes sense to be thoughtful and pragmatic. But I mean, I think the biggest headline for me was that AI agents were involved in 25% of purchases. 25%. That means like one in four people as they’re shopping, whether they’re on their desktop, on their mobile, like they were using an agent in some way, shape or form. And I think that shows tremendous room to grow. I mean, I looked back, I was curious because in my mind it’s really this is like E commerce shopping to me. Like how do we start to see e commerce develop E commerce shopping when it started back in 1998 that was like the first big year that E commerce shopping had for Black Friday for holiday sales that they only saw a doubling in the amount of e Commerce shopping from 1998 to 1999.
That was all that they saw. And I think that we still can’t even cheque out in these platforms yet. So I would say like what we really should be looking at is the difference from this year to next year. I think this was the first year, this was our 1998. I think what we should be looking at is what we see in next year’s growth. Once you can start transacting with once ads are started to be placed in here, special offers are starting to be placed in here. Because the number one thing that this services and why I think so even 25% of people were using this is that it gives you price transparency. You can very quickly look at, I want, I know I want to buy this toy for my kid or this gaming system. Here’s all the places that it is here. Like we’ve never been able to do that independently outside side of a retailer’s website before as a consumer. And so I think that to me is where the real growth opportunity is going to be. So I’ll hold my judgement on that. But that was the stat that really stood out to me was that the agents were already involved in 25% and where is that going to go next year?
00:13:26 Chris
Yeah, and I, I question how they’re using agents in the definition of that too. But you know, without knowing for sure, it’s always tricky but, but you know, at the end of the day too, like I’d say like most, most e commerce happens via search platform anyway. So is that why we’re seeing that is the question I would ask. But to get to that, I think we got another headline where it’s going to come up again. So headline number two. ChatGPT has introduced shopping research. According to a ChatGPT blog post, the new experience does the research for you to help find the right products. Instead of sifting through dozens of sites, you can just describe what you’re looking for. For example, you can say find the quietest cordless stick vacuum for a small apartment or something like I need a gift for my 4 year old niece who loves art and shopping. Research builds a thoughtful guide to help you decide. Sounds just like it was written by the company that did it and how Bullish. Are you on doing your shopping research via Chat GPT?
00:14:19 Anne
I’m, I’m incredibly bullish. I don’t know that I would say specifically ChatGPT, I think I would look more to Gemini, you know, the war between those two. Sam Altman or introduced his code Red yesterday because he’s really wanting the team to get focused on less cash burn and staying competitive against Google. I think that this is giving us an opportunity to shop for things in ways that we wouldn’t have before. So are we using this for, you know, yes, you’re going to use it for the big purchases. But I also think that as more consumers care about the types of ingredients in their products, they care about where these products are sourced from and again, number one, they care about price and availability. I, we’ve never had this, this visibility before in a platform, so I do think we could start to see people say, like, I’m looking for a better for you snack for my kids.
And these are the options. What are those things? What are the ingredients? List this out on a table for me because I think people are going to start using this tool as a way to even shop for things like essentials, for groceries, for personal items. So I do think that what ChatGPT has done here, what Gemini did with their latest, their third 3.0 release, I do think that this is going to provide greater value to how people are starting to shop for things, how they’re doing price comparisons and how they get the exact product that they want because it’s so simple and easy. But I know I’m very bullish on it. Where do you come down on this, Chris? Are you, are you positive towards this? I know you, you’ve been in the past, you’ve been pushing towards more on the retailer’s website. So how do you, how do you land on this?
00:16:07 Chris
Yeah, I mean, overall, I think it makes, it’s a smart move by ChatGPT 100%. I think that makes sense. But again, I’m, I’m slowing my role on the importance of it overall because to me, like I’m wondering, the big question I have is how many product searches are actually as research intensive as you’re describing? I don’t think it’s that many. Otherwise Amazon wouldn’t have the hold on first product searches that it has. And in fact, to prove this point, I queried Claude competitor LLM platform on the number of searches that are actually transactional. And you know what the answer is, Ann? The number of searches that are actually transactional is 70%. Only 30% on what site? On 30.
Across the industry. Across the industry. 30 are research based. So that tells me that, you know, how many people are really going to be doing this exhaustive research that, you know, we all glom onto. Like, I mean, I can even remember, I think we even had this conversation like when, when Walmart debuted their, their, their, their Sparky engine and they were like, use, using, like I’m playing the super bowl party. It’s like, yeah, okay fine, you can use that use case, but how many use cases are there really? Like that? And so that’s the question I have. So net net again, I’d be slowing down, slowing down if I’m an organisation deciding where I’m placing my bets, being very thoughtful about which Pandora’s boxes I want to be opening based on all these announcements that are coming out of ChatGPT and Google and everyone else.
00:17:39 Anne
Fair. Yeah, I just, I think it’s, I think it’s being used for. I would, I know that’s the cloud representation I would be again, following. I still think we’re on the precipice of this. I think we need to follow like, we need to gather more data before we can make any kind of true assessment as to how much people are going to be searching. I think it’s still in its infancy. It’s only been around for, you know, two years. Really where it’s reached mass adoption or three years, sorry. And I think we still have a lot more to come here. I still think that it’s something that retailers need to be investing heavily in both on their site and off. You know, I think there’s no harm in, in getting your products more prepared, building content that will help your products show up easier and number one, making sure that you have price transparency, because that is going to be so, so important. And that’s where I think we start coming into searches for the things, the kinds of things that you’re talking about, Chris, that weren’t happening before but might happen as budgets get tightened up. All right, let’s go to headline number three.
Walmart is exploring bringing ads to Sparky, its new AI shopping agent. According to the Wall Street Journal, the world’s largest retailer has quietly been exploring new ad formats with some advertisers, according to people familiar with the matter. One ad type, dubbed quote, sponsored prompt, end quote, is a new type of ad that has been tested in Sparky, which the company added to its mobile app in June. The new ad format uses Sparky Conversations, quote, for brand engagement and Personalised product recommendations end quote. According to a Walmart sales presentation seen by the Wall Street Journal, users were served a sponsored prompt on Walmart.com and when they clicked the prompt, Sparky responded with an answer. A click to buy ad for the product appeared below. Sparky’s response according to people familiar with the matter. Chris, are you pro or con? Walmart’s test to bring ads to its AI shopping engine Sparky 100% Pro.
00:19:46 Chris
I don’t think I could be more pro on anything actually. And it goes back to what you said before because, and I said this last week too, the line I would be watching in my Monday morning meetings would be what traffic and volume is coming from the chat GPT like platforms. Because my hunch is it’s pretty small and if anyone out there at the retailers can just approve that wants to send me a private message, please let me know. But my hunch is it’s probably not very big. So I think like I’ve said before, this is exactly where retailers should be focusing their efforts creating a great generative AI search experience on their own sites. Because we know generative AI searches convert higher already.
So advertisers are going to love this concept from Walmart and it also on Walmart’s side it’s decidedly incremental margin for Walmart to an ad business that is already growing at a rate. This is crazy. The Walmart ad business is already growing at a rate of almost 100% per year according to a chart that was given in that article you just quoted. So so to me this is a smart move for three reasons. One, you convert the traffic you have coming to your site at a better rate. Number two, you get more ad dollars because of that. And three, the other thing you got to remember is watch the traffic flow from the GPT like platforms to decide if and when, if and when you actually need to connect with them. Because I think that’s the big $64,000 question for me.
00:21:06 Anne
Yeah, I agree. I mean this is kind of a no brainer to me. I think we’re going to see just based on the burn rate of all of the agentic platforms right now. Like we’re going to have to see somebody support the, the tools that we’re giving we’re being offered for free right now as consumers. So I think you have that coming into play. Then you also have like you’re saying Chris, people that are used to asking questions now in a certain way for essential products even and they are going to want to have a similar experience when they come to your website.
So I think it’s, it’s again, all, all the focus needs to be on how are you making your products as discoverable, as pro as possible and then how are you in the moment in a way that we’ve really never been able to do as retailers and brands before? How are you further incentivizing them? They’ve got confidence in their purchase, now you’re giving them an offer at the right place in the right time to actually pull the trigger on that. And it said in this article too that, you know, Walmart’s still early on in this. So I think you’re right. We’re going to continue to see more and more an increase in the amount of revenue that Walmart’s able to bring in.
But right now consumers using the Rufus chatbot on Amazon are converting 60% more. And that’s a great indication of what the possibility is for other retailers when you can capture them with the right deal at the right place at the right time. So I, I think this is 100% something that I’d be looking at as Walmart. It feels additive, it doesn’t feel intrusive like some of the other ads that I think we’ve been served up in, in previous years through traditional retail media. So I love it.
00:22:48 Chris
Yeah. The other point I would add in closing is like, you know, if Walmart and Amazon both now are basically the everything store based on their marketplaces and they have the ability to create these experiences on their site via their own agentic, you know, AI experiences, why do we even need ChatGPT and Google for commerce? Like, that’s the question I’d be asking, you know, why can’t we bring, why can’t we bring the customers directly into the fold? Because, because Amazon previously was able to do that with just general product search. So why can’t they continue to do that? I don’t know. That’s, that’s where I’m like, I don’t. If, if I’m the retailers, I have more power here than I think we’re realising. And that’s, that’s my point.
00:23:24 Anne
I would just say, I think the only difference is, is that you are using chatbots, you’re using some of these other search platforms, agentix search platforms more often. Like it’s part of your everyday life, it’s not just for commerce. So I do kind of think that that’s where the difference is, is that I think we’re dealing with something that’s not just relevant to us. When we’re looking to, you know, do the seek and destroy, I need this thing mission, it’s, you know, you’re asking it questions about, you know, what you should feed your kid and then where, you know, where the best gifts are and then you’re going and saying, I need, I need great toilet paper that’s better for the environment. Where can I get that? And so I think that that’s, that changes the dynamic a little bit based on just how we’re looking previously at, you know, Walmart and Amazon going to search for your products, get it delivered as soon as possible.
00:24:15 Chris
I don’t know because like if you go back to history, like it was Google, Google was the search place for that and Amazon carved out a bit of it. So like there’s that dichotomy that already existed historically. So yes, it might change a little bit, but I think, I just think the retailers have more power here than they, than they then then we’re probably leading to believe so. All right, headline number four. Are smart glasses ready for a breakthrough year in 2026? At least that is what a new McKinsey and business of Fashion report is claiming. And wearables, the report says including smartwatches, rings, eyewear and bands are the fastest growing accessory category with growth of 8.3% per year since 2022. Set to continue at 9% annually up to 2028.
Consumer adoption of smartwatches is also high with the category representing 35 to 40% of the watch market volume. While smart eyewear and smart rings represent less than 10% of their respected market volume. Consumers are expected to further embrace smart glasses in 2026, according to the report. For example, Ray Ban’s Meta glasses were already the top selling product in 60% of Ray Bans EMEA stores as of Q3 2024. And this is also the Put yout On the Spot question of the week from the A and M consumer and retail group and they Want to Know Wearables branch here has been concentrated and generally dominated by technology brands like Apple, Garmin, Samsung in watches and Aura in rings. However, with glasses, the branding model seems to be led by the fashion brand with a powered by technology sub brand. Ray Ban Meta is the great example. What are the most important implications on the growth and profit opportunities for the fashion and technology brands based on this go to market choice. Better you than me.
00:26:00 Anne
Well, yeah, I mean I would say as a fashion retailer I’d be, I’d be looking at what I can do with my current resources and capabilities to support the wearable market and my current customers that are not into wearables. So you know, like I thought the options that they mentioned in the business of fashion article made sense like accessories. Are you looking at engraving? But things that you would do to your own products that you’re just going to do to these, you know, these tech enabled products. And as a tech company, I would be leveraging my relationships with designers because I think the biggest thing to me that still stands in the way, I don’t know that I agree that 2026 is going to be the year of the, of the smart glasses. I just, I think it’s different than a watch or a ring that’s a little more discreet. These are something that you’re putting on your face. This is like your window to any, any person or, you know, thing that you’re coming in contact with.
So as a tech company, I would say I don’t see this reaching like mass adoption until the tech company has figured out how they can make their product as agile as possible so that I can put it into my existing frames the way that I could like put a blue light filter on my glasses. Like it’s not something that is going to change how those glasses appear on my face. It’s really just like an add on that I can do that I can, I can do when I’m getting my, my glasses. So I would say it’s, it’s something that I, I’m not, I’m not in, I don’t agree with business of fashion here. I think that fashion retailers should tread very carefully with anything that they’re doing outside of their current capabilities. And tech companies, you really got to work and try to make ends with the fashion retailers to get them to, to offer this to their consumers who are very finicky consumers typically, especially when it comes to eyewear. So how do you make your product as agile as possible so that it can fit into the most types or shapes or styles of glasses? But Chris, what about you? You actually have the glasses.
00:27:59 Chris
Yeah, I know. I’m kind of like, thank God that that’s the opinion you had on this one. Because I didn’t want to disagree on another headline and, and you picked this headline. So I was like not, I was not sure where you’re going to go with it. I’m just like saying thank God because there’s two points I’d bring up. First is like the overall 2026 year, the smart glasses. I’m selling that hard. Like it sounds like you are too, like like, you’re right. I have the meta glasses, the Ray Bans, and they’re a novelty. Like, they’re awkward, you’re filming people. You have to have a real specific use case to even wear them. I don’t wear them hardly at all. And so.
00:28:31 Anne
Right.
00:28:31 Chris
And they’ve kind of just sat on the shelf collecting dust. And so. So I agree, like, while the style and the tech can improve, and I may, it might make me wear them more. But it’s a big if because it’s different than a watch. Like, a watch has biometric benefits too. Right. Like, so that’s something you have to think about. And then I think it’s still hard to improve upon the overall utility of the smartphone experience itself, you know, which is just on demand to give you all the search information you need. You can put your camera up to it, you can take a video the same way you can with your glasses. So, like, I just don’t, I just don’t know. But the other point of this is I’m selling it hard for the fashion brands too. The fashion brands. I wouldn’t be touching this. It’s not your core competency. Competency. It’s not your core competency. You’re trying, you’re, you’re tying yourself into a tech company, which history has shown tech companies can behave like vultures. So at some point you’re going to be left holding the bag on either a big markdown on product that’s not going to sell because you haven’t hit it right from a fashion standpoint, or you can have the threat of the tech company departing, doing business with you and leaving you again on the lurch. So, like, I just, Yeah, I just, I just don’t. I wouldn’t be touching this in any way, shape or form. I think it’s a, it’s a salacious headline made to generate clicks and interest in the topic for, you know, the people that put it out, in my opinion.
00:29:46 Anne
Agreed. All right, let’s move on to headline number five. Amazon is testing new Amazon Now 30 minute delivery service in Seattle and Philadelphia. According to Geekwire, the new service is available inside the existing Amazon shopping app and website. Customers in eligible neighbourhoods can look for a 30 minute delivery option in the navigation bar, browse a curated catalogue, track orders in real time and tip their drivers. Prime members can pay discounted delivery FEES starting at 3.99 per order, compared with 13.99 for non prime customers with a 1.99 small basket fee on orders under $15.
00:30:29 Chris
Small basket fees No, I don’t like those ads. Small basket fees.
00:30:33 Anne
No. The announcement comes on the heels of reporting by Geekwire last week that revealed Amazon was building out a new rapid delivery hub at a former Amazon Fresh pickup site in Seattle’s Ballard neighbourhood. I have to note too, I had a listener send me a picture this past weekend from the Amazon Fresh. What was the Amazon Fresh store in one of the suburbs here in Minneapolis. It’s now a lava land jumping in place, so these buildings are having to be repurposed for all kinds of things. In this case, it is now being used as this rapid delivery hub. Chris, should retailers take notice of Amazon’s new 30 minute grocery delivery test?
00:31:11 Chris
Wow. Yeah, I think notice. Yes, yes. And Anne, was that, I’m curious, was that, was that, that was like a purported Amazon Fresh site too, not like a live Amazon Fresh site, Right?
00:31:21 Anne
Correct. Yeah, we didn’t ever have any open in Minnesota. But yes, the, the, the building that was built and had been, had been given city approval to open an Amazon.
00:31:31 Chris
Theory was going to be coming to Amazon Fresh. Yes. Right. Okay. Yeah. So for me, I think notice, yes, I would be paying attention to it, but I think, I still think the play here is kind of limiting and it may even be, this actually may be even more of a defensive move from Amazon rather than an offensive move. And because the reason I say that in researching my, my article on Whole Foods and Amazon that I wrote recently in my weekly ramblings, I was struck by one statistic like I didn’t know this, I mean, and I think the Wall Street Journal, we might have even talked about it the week we did the storey. But Amazon share in groceries since the Whole Foods when it took over whole foods was 4%.
Amazon share in grocery is still 4%. And that’s despite having the tailwind of the entire Amazon e commerce infrastructure behind its back. So, you know, does this play into the quick need of people needing their milk with the electronics? Yeah, I guess it does. But how many people really need that as we’ve talked about it and if I’m Walmart or another grocer, you know, I can offer this same service via instacart or doordash. Right now I can go the micro fulfilment route down the road like Amazon’s trying to do as well. So I’m not sure if I’m them. I’m really all that scared by it, which is why it feels more reactive to me than anything and a need to do it move from Amazon more than anything else.
00:32:50 Anne
Yeah, I, it’s, it’s just still so expensive to me. Like prime members paying discounted delivery fees at, for 3.99 in order, like after two orders, I could get a doordash, like subscription, monthly subscription. And I have access to all of the other things like food and 30 minute delivery. And like, it just, it. I’m still, I’m still not. That part is not making sense to me, especially during a pilot. Like, I’m curious if they’re even going to get enough people to participate in this at those prices to get real data that will help support whether or not this is something that they’re going to want to do.
So I, and I just, I would say, you know, pressure testing this demand. Sure, it makes sense. I think it is a defensive move. But I, I don’t know. I think Amazon, you still have a product issue. Like if I’m going to Doordash or Instacart, I’m getting products that are of a greater quality from my regional grocer that I trust that I have a relationship with. Yes. And so I still think like, are you gonna hit it when they, when that thing arrives? And I paid, you know, $20. Now with all the fee, the small basket fees and the whatever, am I going to be satisfied with the product that arrives? I still don’t know the answer to that question. So that for me is the biggest, the biggest challenge here.
00:34:12 Chris
Yep.
00:34:12 Anne
All right, Chris, let’s go to the lightning round. Question number one. Advent calendars are the hot trend from specialty retailers this holiday. Everyone from skims to acne fishing lures to Bridgman’s ice cream are offering them to customers. What brand would you like to have an advent calendar from?
00:34:32 Chris
Oh, and this, this just reminds me that I missed the Nike drop today. The PSG Jordans. I didn’t get those today. Darn it. Oh, man. For me, I want 28 days of Nikes. And it’d be one hell of an expensive calendar. But, but I, I would love that.
00:34:46 Anne
That’d be, I mean, the skims calendar. I think the skims calendar is like in the three hundreds or something. It’s like one pair of underwear per day or something. I mean, there’s no price limit on these advent calendars, Chris. So I think if you really wanted your Nike one, it’s like, possible.
00:35:00 Chris
Yeah, I guess you could build up to demand too. All right. Bloomberg reported this week that people are tiring of quote slop bowls, AKA those Pick your own ingredients, pile the top rice or greens for lunch. And instead are opting more for sandwiches. I’m curious. And are you two getting put off by the prices? Because I know you are quite the salad fan and the sloppable fan. Honestly, whenever we travel.
00:35:22 Anne
Oh, I still love it all the time. I mean, the prices are getting to be ridiculous. But that’s. That’s not a reason. I still think I’m investing in putting the best quality food in my body. And you can change all the ingredients. Like, I don’t know.
00:35:37 Chris
You need the roughage, too, Right? And you need the roughage. Right.
00:35:40 Anne
Especially when you’re travelling. Especially when you’re travelling. All right, Chris, number three White House decorators used 120 pounds of gingerbread as part of its holiday decor this season. Where does gingerbread rank in your order of holiday cookies?
00:35:58 Chris
Oh, man. £120. That’s insane.
00:36:03 Anne
I know.
00:36:03 Chris
God, it’s like an entire person of gingerbread. Anyway, I’d say gingerbread is pretty high for me, I think. But I think if I was to do a rank order, like, my top three, I’d go the Mexican tea cookie, because that’s big. Where I grew up in Arizona. And then I’d go butter cookies with some green and red spritzing. And then I’d go to bread.
00:36:23 Anne
Yeah, okay. What’s a. What is a Mexican tea cookie? Like, what is.
00:36:27 Chris
Oh, you got to look it up. You got to look it up. It’s like a. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s good, though. It’s good like a.
00:36:33 Anne
Is that like the tea cake? Like the balls. The shortbread balls wrapped in powdered sugar?
00:36:38 Chris
Yeah.
00:36:38 Anne
Oh, I thought that was a Russian delicacy. We always called them a Russian tea cake.
00:36:43 Chris
Oh, I have no idea. I don’t know. We’ll have to do some research. But I looked it up.
00:36:46 Anne
Okay.
00:36:46 Chris
I made sure I was, like, thinking the right thing. So I don’t know if I explained the ingredients right, though. I have no idea, because I’m not Mr. Walton Gourmet. All right, last one. Mariah Carey’s 1994 All I Want for Christmas is you anthem is the undisputed queen of holiday earnings. Did you know that according to the Economist, the song has generated more than $60 million in royalties thus far? Where does the song, however, rank on your holiday playlist? You’re the. You’re the playlist.
00:37:14 Anne
It’s top three for sure. I mean, really, it’s probably my number one. I mean, it gets you that drop hits and you’re like, oh, yeah, it Brings me back. It was one of my first CDs that I ever got back in the 80s, early 90s, I guess. But, oh, still, I. If I could still have that CD in my possession, I absolutely wouldn’t. I played every holiday. Still play it on Spotify every year, as many times as possible. I love it.
00:37:38 Chris
You’d go number one? You’d go number one?
00:37:41 Anne
Sure. Yes. Wow. I think everybody knows that song, and it’s so great. It’s like, wow, Hits that high note. I mean, come on, Mariah.
00:37:49 Chris
All right, yeah. See, I’d go. I’d go like George Michael. I’d go Kylie Minogue. I might even go a little Bing Crosby in there, you know? I don’t know. You go number one?
00:37:58 Anne
No.
00:37:58 Chris
Interesting. I didn’t expect you to see that at all.
00:38:01 Anne
It’s fun. It’s a great song. I love it. Keep going. I hope Mariah is set for life. It sounds like she is with $60 million in royalties, but sounds like it’s.
00:38:10 Chris
One hell of an annuity for her. My God. All right, Ella, producer Ella, come on in. I have no idea which way you’re gonna go this week on which headline won the show.
00:38:20 Ella
I feel like it’d be a drum roll. Now, Chris, the headline that won this week was the Smart glasses Wave. This was really intriguing. I will agree with both of you for all the reasons you stated, which might shock some of you given my demographic and my consumer lens.
00:38:35 Chris
So, okay, so I want to make. So this is good to know. This is why we bring you on the show at the end of. The end of every podcast. Because, like, like what I was worried about and when we were doing our take on it, I was worried we’re going to get like the. Get off your law and old folks take here from Ella. But we did it. So, like, the younger generation is kind of like, yeah, I’m not buying this either. Like, I’m not buying this.
00:38:53 Ella
I’m just curious what I would use them for besides content creation. Like the. The hands free photo video makes complete sense, but all the other gadgets scare me a lot. It’s really intimidating and I wonder how much of a learning curve that is. I think I know around five people who have these and they’re all photographers, so they use them for, like, bts, behind the scenes taking video photo bottom.
00:39:17 Chris
To create content. I haven’t used them for that.
00:39:19 Anne
Yeah.
00:39:19 Chris
Oh, go ahead. And it’s a utility.
00:39:20 Anne
It’s a utility purchase. Like, I think that this is something that makes sense the way that you would buy a tool for, you know, like if you’re, if you travel a lot, like, it’d be nice to have the glasses to, to translate things while you’re walking through a city into the language that makes sense. They’re looking at a menu. But I don’t, I don’t see these as something that you’re wearing all the time. It’s like reading glasses where like I’m pulling them out for a specific thing. I carry them around with me. But unless you, you have all these very specific use cases, I just, I don’t see people reaching out and spending, you know, several hundred dollars on a pair of these.
00:39:57 Chris
That’s interesting take though too, because it makes me wonder if it’s like the iPad versus the iPhone thing. Like, you know, like, you know, iPads were really popular for a while and then you only use them for really specific use cases. Right. And you know, a lot of times those collect dust too. I mean, mine does. But you know, maybe, maybe there is some like thing there down the road where there is like these specific use cases that all emerge. Who knows?
00:40:18 Ella
And to your point, Anne, I think the fashion comes first, at least in my opinion. And with my round head shape, these glasses would not look good on me. I would not be wearing these every day. So it would have to be a very case by case basis.
00:40:32 Anne
Plus, you look like everybody else. There’s only so many styles. Like, do you want to wear the same thing? Like, you love glasses. Ella, you have tonnes of pairs of glasses. Can you imagine just one?
00:40:42 Ella
No, not at all. Like, I literally have mine sitting right here and they’re very long, lanky for people listening at home. But I look at my apple watch that I do wear often and you can replace the band, you know, you have options. If the, the lens itself could be replaceable, maybe I’d be more curious. But I also think there’s something to note about the safety factor too, because we have no idea wearing these glasses 24 7. I think we mentioned Amazon, that headline with them wearing them and, and like, is this going to be a lawsuit? Like, is it, I don’t know, is it going to be safe for me down the road? Yeah. So very interesting headline.
00:41:23 Chris
All right. Happy birthday today to Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, and to the man who was once told not to. Anna. Appreciate this Wheeze the Juice, the incomparable and still underappreciated Brendan Fraser producer. Ella, do you even get that reference we, the Juice. Do you know what that is?
00:41:39 Ella
No, not one bit.
00:41:41 Chris
Okay. All right. When you, when you, when you have nothing to do this weekend, watch the classic film Encino man. All right? And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, Make It Omnitok, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 US retailer. Our Fast Five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week’s top news, and our daily newsletter, the Retail Daily Minute, tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly features special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take pride in doing just for you.
Thanks as always for listening and please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube. You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalk retail. Today’s podcast was of course produced by Ella Siriord. So until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail, as always, be careful out there. And one programming note, be sure to catch next week episode because our friends from the A and M Consumer and Retail group will be on to hand out this year’s 2025 Retail Awards.
Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.